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THE VIRGIN BIRTH
Did Jesus become a Son because God Fathered him ? The Mormons and quite a few others seem to think so. But none go as far as Mormonism ! This teaching of God being the literal Father is held unanimously across the board with the men who built the church to what it is today."Jesus is the only person who had our heavenly father as the father of his body" (family home evening manual p.125-126 1972) ‘Christ was begotten by an immortal father in the same way that mortal men are begotten by mortal father."(Mormon doctrine p.547) "The birth of the savior was as natural as the births of our children; it was the result of natural action. He partook of flesh and blood—was begotten of his father, as were of our fathers." (Journal of Discourses vol.8 p.115) "If none but gods will be permitted to multiply immortal children, it follows that each God must have one or more wives. God, the Father of our spirits, became the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ according to the flesh. "(Apostle Orson Pratt, The Seer, page 158) "I will say that I was naturally begotten; so was my father, and also my Savior Jesus Christ. According to the Scriptures, he is the first begotten of his father in the flesh, and there was nothing unnatural about it. ( Heber C. Kimball, Journal of Discourses, 8:211)Apostle and one of the best defenders of their errors was Bruce R. McConkie taught, "And Christ was born into the world as the literal Son of this Holy Being; he was born in the same personal, real, and literal sense that any mortal son is born to a mortal father. There is nothing figurative about his paternity; he was begotten, conceived and born in the normal and natural course of events, for he is the Son of God, and that designation means what it says" (Mormon Doctrine, p. 742).The confusion escalates because the First Book of Nephi, p.25 (1830):."...behold the Lamb of God, yea, even the Eternal Father!" First Book of Nephi, p.32; (1830): "...that the Lamb of God is the Eternal Father and the Savior of the world." This means according to Mormonism the father fathered Jesus who also is the father. So he fathered himself. He was in two places at the same time which according to Mormonism is impossible. Not to worry though, this perfect revelation was revised. When Mormons teach about the Virgin Birth of Jesus, they do not mean the same thing we do as Christians and they know this. According to Mormonism, God the Father, who has a body of flesh and bones (since he was a man), came to earth and had a physical sex with Mary, his own daughter and begot Jesus' physical body. (Doctrine and Covenants, 130:22; McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, p. 471)Bruce R. McConkie explains exactly what they mean by the terminology. SON OF GOD: God the Father is a perfected, glorified, holy Man, an immortal Personage. And Christ was born into the world as the literal Son of this Holy Being; he was born in the same personal, real, and literal sense that any mortal son is born to a mortal father. There is nothing figurative about his paternity; he was begotten, conceived and born in the normal and natural course of events, for he is the son of God, and that designation means what it says. (Mormon Doctrine p. 742) SON OF MAN: Christ is the Son of Man, meaning that his Father (the eternal God!) is a Holy Man. "In the language of man, Man of Holiness" is the name of God. (Mormon Doctrine P.742) "Christ was begotten of God. He was NOT born without the aid of man and that man was God!" (Doctrines of Salvation, Vol. 1:18)Apostle Bruce R. McConkie explains, "And Christ was born into the world as the literal Son of this Holy Being; he was born in the same personal, real, and literal sense that any mortal son is born to a mortal father. There is nothing figurative about his paternity; he was begotten, conceived and born in the normal and natural course of events, … (Mormon Doctrine, p. 742). Apostle, Bruce R. McConkie also states"...our Lord is the only Son of the Father in the flesh. Each of the words is to be understood literally. Only means only; Begotten means begotten; and Son means son. Christ was begotten by an Immortal Father in the same way that mortal men are begotten by mortal fathers." ( Mormon Doctrine, p. 546-47 ).God was not literally his Father anymore than the father had literally begotten Israel the nation by sexual relations.( Israel is called Gods firstborn son). (Jn.5:18) Jesus called God his very own Father. This meant a special relationship that excludes him from anyone else as able to have. This he had PRIOR to coming to earth. John 6:44 states, "Not that anyone has seen the Father except HE who is from God. He has seen the Father." Jesus makes the clear point that he has a different relation with God than any other human before or after him. He was the Son in relationship to the Father before he was born as a man. Isa.7:14 "Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a Son, and shall call his name, God with us." Here we find the Son is God not just a human. Luke 1:35 he will be called "the Son of God". Immanuel =God with us. This was the miraculous conception without a man, having no human Father. This would be a sign of a super- natural means of bringing Immanuel into the world. Isa.9:6 tells us a child would be born , this refers to his birth and humanity. It also says a son will be given this refers to his nature since he already was the Son in his pre-existence. He is sent from heaven as the Son. ( Jn. 3:16, 6:39, 12:49 ) "The fleshly body of Jesus required a Mother as well as a Father. Therefore, the Father and Mother of Jesus, according to the flesh, must have been associated together in the capacity of Husband and Wife; hence the Virgin Mary must have been, for the time being, the lawful wife of God the Father: we use the term lawful Wife, because it would be blasphemous in the highest degree to say that He overshadowed her or begat the Savior unlawfully. (Orson Pratt, The Seer, page 158) In the Bible Luke 1:35: "And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Spirit shall come upon you, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow you: therefore also that holy one which is to be born will be called the Son of God." So Jesus was placed into the womb of Mary without the normal means of conception. The virgin birth became the means to protect the sinless Son of God. 'Now Remember from this time forth, and forever, that Jesus Christ was not begotten by the Holy Ghost. ...But what do the people in Christendom, with the Bible in their hands, know but this subject? Comparatively Nothing."( Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, Vol. 1:50-51)"They tell us the Book of Mormon states that Jesus was begotten of the Holy Ghost. I challenge that statement. The Book of Mormon teaches No Such Thing! Neither does the Bible!" ( Joseph Fielding Smith, 10th Prophet of the Mormon Church, Doctrines of Salvation, Vol. 1:18)In Mt.1:20 The angel tells Joseph "that which is conceived of the Holy Ghost." The egg was generated to life as God the Son entered the egg under the superintending ministry of the Holy Spirit. The Bible is explicit that the Holy Spirit was the divine agent who caused Jesus conception in the womb of Mary not the father having sex. "This therefore, was not a normal conception, but a supernatural act of God planting the life of his already existent Son right in the womb of Mary, with no normal conception of a male sperm with the female ovum of Mary. As blood type of the Son of God was a separate and precious type" (unlike any other authors insert). Because of this method of conception "it is inconceivable that Mary could have supplied any of her Adamic blood for the spotless lamb of God." (William Standish Reed of the Christian medical foundation of Tampa Florida.) Neither is there any indication that God fertilized the egg of Mary through either the Father or Holy Spirits work. She conceived without human or divine fertilization, so there was no sperm to touch the egg, Jesus who is the author of life made a biological miracle with no fertilization. The Holy Spirit who is God protected his sinlessness as God the Son entered the womb and gave life to the egg of Mary. Taking upon himself a human nature in addition to his divine nature he already had.( clothed himself in humanity Phil. 2:5-8) There was no normal means of personhood transmitted from Mary in the virgin birth. He who became flesh is described as the Source of all life. What was given was a physical body but not the Spirit. Because the Spirit of man is sinful and the source of our passing on our sins generation to generation. It was the Son of God who was the inner man. Not only do they claim Mary had sex with God the father but she was an adulteress according to Christians and a polygamist according to Mormons. "And who is the Father? He is the first of the human family. Jesus, our elder brother, was begotten in the flesh by the same character that was in the garden of Eden, and who is our Father in Heaven." (Journal of Discourses, vol. 1, pages 50-51) To make this clear what the Church understood this as "He [Brigham Young] said that our GOD was Father Adam He was the Father of the Savior Jesus Christ Our God was no more or less than ADAM. " ("Wilford Woodruff Journal," Feb. 19,1854) "Christ was begotten of God. He was NOT born without the aid of man and that man was God!" (Doctrines of Salvation, Vol. 1:18) "The man Joseph, the husband of Mary, did not, that we know of, have more than one wife, but Mary the wife of Joseph had another husband." (Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, 11:268) Not to wonder since God is also participating in this practice "We have clearly shown that God the father had a plurality of wives…"(Orson Pratt The Seer p.172) "Inasmuch as God was the first husband to her, it may be that He only gave her to be the wife of Joseph while in the mortal state, and that He intended after the resurrection to again take her as one of his own wives to raise up immortal spirits in eternity."( Orson Pratt, The Seer, page 158) So much was this practiced that Jedediah M. Grant, Second Counselor to Brigham Young, asserted: "A belief in the doctrine of a plurality of wives caused the persecution of Jesus and his followers." (Journal of Discourses, vol. 1, page 346) "Hence the Virgin Mary must have been, for the time being the lawful wife of God the Father: we use the term lawful Wife, because it would be blasphemous in the highest degree to say that He overshadowed her or begat the Saviour unlawfully," (The Seer, Apostle Orson Pratt p. 158). Actually what they are teaching is blasphemous. The truth is that Mormons are not Christians. They use Christian words but they change them to have non-Christian definitions. They believe in a different Jesus, who is not the Jesus of the Bible. One needs to believe in the Biblical account of the virgin birth to be a Christian . when one changes this they lose the miracle of God using fallen humanity to accomplish his decrees. They also can lose the Son of God who clothed himself in humanity. since Mormons readily admit Jesus is just another spirit creature like you or I. To actively and consciously refuse the facts of the means of the Son of Gods birth, is to bring havoc to ones theology. This is why the Apostles creed and the Nicene creed had mention of the virgin conception and Birth. Mormons on every point contradict the biblical text, but then that's what happens when you rely on revelations from angels of light.
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